Post-9/11 CIVIL LIBERTIES

There is a growing movement to protect and restore civil liberties threatened by the USA PATRIOT Act and current proposed Anti-Terrorist legislation. There are fifteen proposed bills before Congress that call for repeal and/or modification of the PATRIOT Act. This legislation includes safe guards for individuals, businesses, libraries, and religious organizations from “sneak and peak” searches, wiretaps, data-mining, racial and religious profiling, detention and deportation.

In addition, there are over 200 local resolutions and ordinances passed by cities, towns, and counties all over the United States calling for support of civil liberties and the creation of civil liberty “safe-zones.” Local efforts are creating nation-wide support for the protection of free speech and freedom, two of the founding principles of our nation.

While we recognize the continued threat terrorism poses, we must be vigilant that in our quest for safety, we do not undermine liberty. We must take care as a nation that the search for terrorists does not alienate the many immigrants, now residents and citizens, who have chosen the U.S. as their home.

History

Roger Baldwin(1884-1981) , founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, when reflecting on his life, said that in his early years he not only regularly attended the Unitarian Church in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts; he also helped to teach in the Sunday School and even listened to the preacher. He added, “I would say that social work began in my mind in the Unitarian Church when I was ten or twelve years old, and I started to do things that I thought would help other people.”

Theodore Parker (1810-1860), Unitarian Minister kept a faithful correspondence on political questions with a young Illinois lawyer named William Herndon. Once Parker sent Herndon tow sermons on democracy, which contained these words: “The government of all, by all, and for all is a Democracy.” Herndon liked Parker’s preaching and passed these sermons along to his senior law partner, Abraham Lincoln, who underscored that particular passage. -Richard Gilbert, The Prophetic Imperative

Why We Act

The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations upholds the democratic process as a founding principle of our churches and of society as a whole. We encourage each person’s search for meaning and spiritual growth. The UUA affirms justice, equity and compassion in all human relations and recognizes the individual inherent worth and dignity of all. Our values provide a basis for our beliefs in individual privacy and each person’s right to due process of the law. It is these values that compel us to work for the protection and restoration of civil liberties. As liberal religious people, we have a unique voice in the call for freedom.

• Summary of Resolutions on Civil Liberties from past General Assemblies
• Draft Statement of Conscience scheduled for adoption GA 2004
• Message from President Bill Sinkford. Our Calling: In an age of terror, a new call to civic courage appeared in the UUWorld Jan/Feb 2003
• President Sinkford’s message on 9-11-2001
• Information on the October 2002 forum The courage our country needs to survive where UUA leaders celebrated UU defense of civil liberties in turbulent times
• President Sinkford’s message “Our Religious Witness for Civil Liberties at the October 2002 forum
• Read a sermon entitled “Civil Liberties Under Siege” by The Rev. Dr. Randolph W.B. Becker of Unitarian Universalist Community Church Park Forest, Illinois

Take Action

• UUA Washington Office for Advocacy
• UUA Washington Office for Advocacy ACTION PACKET on Civil Liberties, a resource put together by the UUA Washington Office. These issue specific resources, along with the Office's general advocacy resources, are available in paper form from the office by request. Email Megan Joiner at mjoiner@uua.org to be mailed a copy of this and/or any of the other packets.
• Tips and Tools From the UUA Washington Office for Organizing Community Resolutions in Defense of the Bill of Rights
• UUA Social Justice Resources for your congregation
• Congregational Implementation of Civil Liberties Study Action Issue

UU Resources

• UUA Washington Office for Advocacy Civil Liberties Page
• UUA Washington Office for Advocacy September 11, 2001 Page
• UUA Washington Office for Advocacy ACTION PACKET on Civil Liberties, a resource put together by the UUA Washington Office. These issue specific resources, along with the Office's general advocacy resources, are available in paper form from the office by request. Email Megan Joiner at mjoiner@uua.org to be mailed a copy of this and/or any of the other packets.
• AHEAD OF THE WAVE: Unitarian Universalist Defense of Civil Liberties
  • Civil Liberties Forum October 17, 2002
  • Order Form for videotapes of AHEAD OF THE WAVE
• Books from Beacon Press on Civil Liberties
• UUA Bookstore
• Sermons and Writings on Civil Liberties
• Commission on Social Witness Civil Liberties Study Guide
• UU Response to 9/11/2001
• Vision and Values in a Post-9/11 World: A Curriculum on Civil Liberties, Faith, Patriotism and Values for Unitarian Universalist Congregations

Other Resources

• LINKS for Patriot Act Analysis
• ACLU-Safe and Free Site
• Bill of Rights Defense Committee
• Center for Democracy and Technology
• Electronic Privacy Information Center
• National Immigration Forum
• People for the American Way
• Patriotwatch
• National Student Action to Oppose the Patriot Act
• The Rutherford Institute
• The Universal Declaration of Human RightsThe Declaration of Independence
• The Bill of Rights

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100